Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:04:02.622Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A consilience framework: Revealing hidden features of the independent contractor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2016

Tui McKeown
Tui McKeown*
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Monash University, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
*
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a consilience framework developed and tested to reconcile the varying definitions, methodologies and purposes of the data collected on independent contracting within Australia. The result is a multilayered profile of the self-employed contractor which draws together official labour market statistics, taxation office liabilities and marketing-based consumer data sources. The framework sees independent contractors emerge as a dynamic, entrepreneurial and complex group who defy many of the age, gender and industry stereotypes that law and policy makers confine them to. While these initial results are limited to Australia, the challenge independent contractors present to established systems of legal, social and government regulation are embedded within the wider contexts of self-employment and small business. These contexts are universal and the sooner these challenges are answered, the sooner the opportunities they also present can be realised.

Keywords

Australiasmall- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)small businessmixed methodsindependent contractors
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 22 , Special Issue 6: Self-employed professionals, freelancers and contractors , November 2016 , pp. 779 - 796
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ABS (2009). Australian Labour Market Statistics Cat. No. 6105.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics. AGPS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2014). Forms of Employment 2013 Cat. No. 6359.0. Australian Bureau of Statistics. AGPS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2013). Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2009 to June 2012 Cat. No. 8165.0. Australian Bureau of Statistics. AGPS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2006). Australian Small Business Key Statistics and Analysis. Australian Bureau of Statistics. AGPS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2004). Characteristics of small business, Canberra, ACT, ABS Cat. No. 8127.0.Google Scholar
ABS (2009a). Australian labour market statistics, ABS Cat. 6105.0. Australian Bureau of Statistics. AGPS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2009b). Forms of employment, Australia, Canberra, ACT, ABS Cat. no. 6359.0.Google Scholar
ABS (2013). Counts of Australian Businesses, including entries and exits, June 2009 to June 2012 Cat. No. 8165.0. Australian Bureau of Statistics. AGPS, Canberra.Google Scholar
ABS (2014). Forms of Employment 2013 Cat. No. 6359.0. Australian Bureau of Statistics. AGPS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Anderson, A., Dodd, S., & Jack, S. (2009). Aggressors, inners; victims and outsiders: European business schools’ social construction of the entrepreneur. International Small Business Journal, 27(1), 126–133.Google Scholar
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (2008a). Profiling the micro business segment communication and information needs November 2008 by GfK Bluemoon. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/cor00182325.pdf.Google Scholar
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (2008b). ‘Understanding the characteristics of micro business tax debtors’, IPSOS Eureka. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/cor00161745debtrprt.pdf.Google Scholar
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (2009a). Understanding preventative, facilitative and punitive payment measures for micro businesses July 2009 by GfK Bluemoon. Retrieved July 23, 2010, from http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/cor00227004.pdf.Google Scholar
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (2009b). 2008–09 compliance program. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/COR_0015516_CP0809.pdf.Google Scholar
Baines, S., & Wheelock, J. (1998). Reinventing traditional solutions: Job creation, gender and the micro-business household. Work, Employment & Society, 12(4), 579–601.Google Scholar
Bechara, J., & Van de Ven, A. (2011). Triangulating philosophies of science to understand complex organizational and managerial problems. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 32(2), 343–364.Google Scholar
Blanpain, R., & Nakakubo, H. (2010). Regulation of fixed-term employment contracts. The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International.Google Scholar
Bögenhold, D., & Fachinger, U. (2013). Blurred boundaries of journalism: multiple employment in the media industry and the hybridity of occupational work. International Journal of Arts and Commerce, 2(10), 171–183.Google Scholar
Book, L., & Phillips, D. (2013). Creativity and entrepreneurship: Changing currents in education and public life. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bridges, S. (2010). Re-thinking enterprise policy: Can failure trigger new understandings. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Carsrud, A., & Braennback, M. (Eds) (2009). Understanding the entrepreneurial mind, Vol. 24. Heidelberg: Springer.Google Scholar
Casale, G. (Ed.) 2011). The employment relationship: A comparative overview. Geneva: ILO/Hart Publishing.Google Scholar
Carsrud, A., & Braennback, M. (2011). Entrepreneurial motivations: what do we still need to know? Journal of Small Business Management, 49(1), 9–26.Google Scholar
Casale, G., & Perulli, A. (2014). Towards the single employment contract: Comparative reflections. Geneva: International Labour Office.Google Scholar
Deakin, S. (2001). The many futures of the contract of employment. In J. Conaghan, M. Fischl, & K. Klare (Eds.), Labour law in an era of globalisation: Transformative practices and possibilities (pp. 177–196). Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Dent, M., & Whitehead, S. (Eds.) (2013). Managing professional identities: Knowledge, performativities and the ‘new’ professional (Vol. 19). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dullroy, J., & Cashman, A. (2013). Independents Unite! Inside the Freelancers’ Rights Movement. Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.freelancersmovement.org.Google Scholar
Elfving, J., Brannback, M., & Carsrud, A. (2009). Toward a contextual model of entrepreneurial intentions. In A. Carsrud, & M. Braennback (Eds.), Understanding the entrepreneurial mind, Vol. 24 (pp. 23–33). Heidelberg: Springer.Google Scholar
EC (2015). User guide to the SME definition. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
ESDE (2016). Employment and social developments in Europe 2015. European Commission. Retrieved May 7, 2016, from www.ec.europa.eu.Google Scholar
Eurofound (2016). Working time developments in the 21st century: Work duration and its regulation in the EU. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
EWCS (2010). European Working Conditions Surveys. Retrieved December 9, 2012, from http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/surveys/index.htm.Google Scholar
Gartner, W. (2010). A new path to the waterfall: A narrative on a use of entrepreneurial narrative. International Small Business Journal, 28(1), 6–19.Google Scholar
Griffiths, M., Kickul, J., & Carsrud, A. (2009). Government bureaucracy, transactional impediments, and entrepreneurial intentions. International Small Business Journal, 27(5), 626–645.Google Scholar
Gröpel, P., & Steel, P. (2008). A mega-trial investigation of goal setting, interest enhancement, and energy on procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(5), 406–411.Google Scholar
Gulati, R. (2007). Tent poles, tribalism, and boundary spanning: The rigor-relevance debate in management research. Academy of Management Journal, 50(4), 775–782.Google Scholar
Herbane, B (2010). Small business research: Time for a crisis-based view. International Small Business Journal, 28(2), 43–64.Google Scholar
Hussmans, R. (2003). Defining and measuring informal employment, ILO, Geneva. Retrieved December 9, 2010, from http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/download/papers/meas.pdf.Google Scholar
International Labour Organization (2006). International Labour Conference, 95th Session, Report V(1) The employment relationship, Geneva.Google Scholar
Horowitz, S. (2010). Why is Washington ignoring the freelance economy? The Atlantic. Retrieved July 1, 2011, from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/09/why-is-washington-ignoring-the-freelance-economy/63510/.Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (2015). Small and medium-sized enterprises and decent and productive employment creation (ILC.104/IV International Labour Conference, 104th Session, 2015 Report IV ed.). Geneva: International Labour Office.Google Scholar
Kitching, J., & Smallbone, D. (2012). Are freelancers a neglected form of small business? Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 19(1), 74–91.Google Scholar
Leighton, P., & Brown, D. (2014). Future working: The rise of Europe’s independent professionals. Professional Contractors Group Ltd. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from www.pcg.org.uk.Google Scholar
Leighton, P., & McKeown, T. (2015). The rise of independent professionals: Their challenge for management. Small Enterprise Research, 22(2–3), 119–130.Google Scholar
Leighton, P., & Wynn, M. (2011). Classifying employment relationships: More sliding doors or a new regulatory framework? Industrial Law Journal, 40(1), 5–44.Google Scholar
McKeown, T. (2015). What’s in a name? The value of ‘entrepreneurs’ compared to ‘self-employed’ … but what about ‘freelancing ‘or ‘IPro’? In Burke, A. (Ed.), The Handbook of Research on Freelancing and Self-Employment (pp. 121) Senate Hall Academic Publishing, Dublin, Ireland.Google Scholar
McKeown, T., & Hanley, G. (2009). Challenges and changes in the contractor workforce. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 47, 295–317.Google Scholar
McKeown, T., & Phillips, K. (2014). Growing and sustaining entrepreneurial ecosystems: Recognising the importance of the ‘nano-business’ (White Paper WP03-2014). Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ). Retrieved December 9, 2014, from www.seaanz.org.Google Scholar
Meyermans, E. (2016). Self-employed and entrepreneurship: Breaking the barriers to job creation. Evidence in Focus. Retrieved June 2, 2016, from www.ec.europa.eu/social.Google Scholar
Mole, K., Hart, M., Roper, S., & Saal, D. (2009). Assessing the effectiveness of business support services in England: Evidence from a theory-based evaluation. International Small Business Journal, 27(5), 557–580.Google Scholar
Mould, O., Vorley, T., & Liu, K. (2014). Invisible creativity? Highlighting the hidden impact of freelancing in London’s creative industries. European Planning Studies, 22(12), 2436–2455.Google Scholar
Nijsen, A., Hudson, J., Muller, C., Paridon, K., & Thurik, R. (2009). Business regulation and public policy: The costs and benefits of compliance. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2015). Financing SMEs and entrepreneurs 2015: An OECD scoreboard. Paris: OECD. Retrieved September 12, 2015, from www.oecd.org.Google Scholar
Osimo, D. (2016). The 2016 start-up nation scoreboard: How European Union countries are improving policy frameworks and developing powerful ecosystems for entrepreneurs, The Lisbon Council and Neats. Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://www.europeandigitalforum.eu/index.php/component/attachments/attachments?id=311&task=view.Google Scholar
Osnowitz, D. (2010). Freelancing expertise: Contract professionals in the new economy. New York: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Parker, S (2010). Contracting out, public policy and entrepreneurship Scottish. Journal of Political Economy, 57(2), 119–144.Google Scholar
Patterson, N., & Mavin, S. (2009). Women entrepreneurs: Jumping the corporate ship into gaining new wings. International Small Business Journal, 27(2), 173–192.Google Scholar
Peroff, N. (1999). Is management an art or a science? A clue in consilience. Emergence, 1(1), 92–109.Google Scholar
Riley, J. (2007). A fair deal for the entrepreneurial worker? Self-employment and independent contracting post Work Choices’. Australian Journal of Labour Law, 19(3), 246–262.Google Scholar
Robson, P., Wijbenga, F., & Parker, S. (2009). Entrepreneurship and policy: Challenges and directions for future research. International Small Business Journal, 27(5), 531–535.Google Scholar
Robu, M. (2013). A new classification of SMEs in the digital economy context. Cross-Cultural Management Journal, 1(27), 150–155.Google Scholar
Roy Morgan (2008). Value Segments roy.morgan.com.au. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from http://www.roymorgan.com/products/values-segments/values-segments.cfm.Google Scholar
Roy Morgan (2009). People who are self-employed profile July 2008–June 2009. Developed from data provided by Roy Morgan from the Asteroid Database.Google Scholar
Shane, S. (2008). The Illusions of Entrepreneurship. Yale, New Haven.Google Scholar
Smith, V., & Neuwirth, E. (2009). Temporary help agencies and the making of a new employment practice. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 23, 56–72.Google Scholar
Still, L., & Timms, W. (2000). Women’s business: The flexible alternative workstyle for women. Women in Management Review, 15(5/6), 272–283.Google Scholar
Storey, J. (2012). Freelancing expertise: contract professionals in the new economy. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 50(3), 587–588.Google Scholar
Thompson, P., Jones-Evans, D., & Kwong, C. (2009). Women and home-based entrepreneurship. International Small Business Journal, 27(2), 227–239.Google Scholar
Tucker, E., Fudge, J., & Vosk, L. (2011). Employee or independent contractor? Charting the legal significance of the distinction in Canada. Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, 10(2), 193–230.Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. (1998). Consilience and complexity. Complexity, 3(5), 17–21.Google Scholar
Witlivet, L., & Brantz, R. (2013). The Rise of Europe's independent professionals (ipros) – KIZO. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from www.kizo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/iProsSMALL.pdf.Google Scholar
World Economic Forum (2014). Enhancing Europe’s competitiveness fostering innovation-driven entrepreneurship in Europe. Geneva: World Economic Forum.Google Scholar
Wynn, M. (2015). Feudal societies and Hobbit law: The story of ‘the Hobbit amendment. Small Enterprise Research, 22(2–3), 131–145.Google Scholar